Dear Mr. and Mrs. Potter,

I am pleased to announce that your son, Albus Potter, arrived safely at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At the Sorting Ceremony, your son was sorted into the Gryffindor House. The following students were also sorted into Gryffindor and are housemates of your son:

Harry Baird, Jimber Dokes, Jenelle Gleich, Kaitlin Jones, Scorpius Malfoy, Margaret Quince, and Rose Weasley.

Any mail that you wish to be delivered to your son should be addressed to your child’s name in the Hogwarts Great Hall.

If you have any concerns or questions about your child’s upcoming school year, please send your owl or Muggle post to his Head of House, Professor Neville Longbottom, or to me.

Yours truly,

Filius Flitwick

Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry turned to find Ginny staring at him with her mouth agape. “Scorpius Malfoy?” he asked, looking for confirmation of what he had just read. Ginny looked again and shook her head. “I’d give a month’s wages to see Draco read his letter,” added Harry.

Two owls were already waiting at the kitchen window when Draco entered into the room. Draco opened the window to allow the both of the birds to enter. The first owl to enter through the window held a leather-wrapped thick packet from Hannah Longbottom, and the second owl held something small and official looking from Hogwarts. Draco did not feel the need read about his son. The Longbottom letter was the more important package. He took the package off of the brown mottled tawny owl’s leg, untied the bundle, and pulled out the cover letter

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Draco Malfoy,

I am happy that you are interested in moving your owl order business to our open storefront in Diagon alley. My husband and I reviewed your business plan and found your store would be a good addition to the viability of our market area. Enclosed, you will find a standard rental agreement, please have your barrister review the contract. If you have no issues with the contract, please return it, signed, to the Leaky Cauldron along with a draft from Gringotts for the first and last month’s rent.

Sincerely,

Hannah A. Longbottom

Abbott Family Properties LTD

Draco stood up from the kitchen table and moved away from the twilling owls. He could not afford to have someone check out the contract for him. He carefully read the contract, twisting the meaning of each word on the document and looking for some sort of trick. The paper looked okay. He also knew Neville Longbottom was too much an innocent to cheat someone; however, he knew that he also was not just anyone. During their school years, Draco had struck out at the Gryffindors though Neville. While Draco doubted that Neville would get revenge like that; he wasn’t so sure about the wife. The Abbott Family had run the alley for almost two centuries. If anyone could twist a rental agreement, it would be the last surviving Abbott. Malfoy sighed; his only option was to trust in Neville’s naive fairness.

Draco signed the note. He next went to the sideboard to gather the goblin-made necklace and chest plate that Astoria had inherited from the counter to sell to finance the Potions shop.

Draco looked up as the swinging door that led from the formal dining room into the kitchen opened, and slammed into the wall. Astoria stormed into the kitchen and explained that Mother Malfoy had demanded that her daughter-in-law serve her breakfast in bed again. As Astoria started to say that she was not a house-elf, she noticed the remaining owl standing on the counter. She reached out to untie the note from the leg of the impatient Hogwarts barn owl. Draco watched as she read only a few sentences, and then silently extended the note toward her husband. Draco read down to the word ‘Gryffindor’ and froze. He thought he could possibly live with the Hat’s decision; he just hoped it wouldn’t kill his parents.

Since it was the first class on the first day of the school year, the Hufflepuffs and the Gryffindors arrived as one large pack and tentatively stepped into Greenhouse Number One. The first sight that greeted them inside the building was of six clay flower pots that each contained a single large flower with a heart-shaped red blossom. The second thing they saw was Professor Longbottom. The smile on his face was a wide and warm, honest one.

Scorpius, Jimber and a short thin raven-haired girl named Kaitlin stood on the right side of the little crowd. In the middle stood all ten Hufflepuffs, and on the far left side of the group were the other five Gryffindors. Professor Longbottom looked the class over, bent down under the large rough hewn wooden table and pulled out a tray of long green grass with golden tips. He asked the class, “For five points, who can identify the plant in front of me?”

Rose Weasley’s hand beat Scorpius by an instant. Scorpius watched as the girl announced, “Merlin Grass.”

“Correct,” Longbottom responded to the class. “While the greens of the grass can be used as a food plant for both humans and animals, it is the golden tip that makes the plant so valuable. The tips are used in many potions; who can name one?”

Again Rose and Scorpius’ hands were the first into the air. Longbottom smiled at the two Gryffindors. He looked at Scorpius and said, “I think she was first again. However, if you have a different potion, I’ll let you answer also.”

Rose gave a smile toward Scorpius as she rocked to and fro from heel-to-toe before she answered, “Draught of Peace.”

“And Felix Felicis,” added Scorpius, returning her grin.

“Ten more points for Gryffindor,” awarded Professor Longbottom. “So, for the rest of our first class together, I’ll need you to break up into four different groups. And since this is the first day, let’s mix everyone so we can make new friends. Jones and Quince, please join these three ladies,” he said pointing to the left most three Hufflepuff females. “Gleich and Baird, you join the three gentlemen over here. The rest of you, please form your groups by house,” he added, his eyes moving from Rose Weasley to Scorpius Malfoy.

Scorpius and Jimber looked at Albus and Rose and no one moved. Professor Longbottom pointed to the unclaimed work bench with the tray and seedlings that was halfway between the Gryffindors. After a couple of seconds the four silently moved around the meter long grey metal container. After a long series of heartbeats, Albus Potter reached his hand out. Scorpius noticed that the hand was not reaching toward him but toward Jimber. “I’m Albus Potter, and this is my cousin Rose Weasley.”

Jimber smiled, “Hello Albus. Hello Rose. I’m Jimber Dokes and this is my friend, Scorpius Malfoy.” Albus reached forward and grasped Scorpius’ extended hand.

Scorpius saw that the silent Rose was watching him as if she was silently sizing him up. She looked down at Jimber’s hand as it tentatively reached toward her. She took the proffered hand and shook it once, and with a soft, obviously-practiced polite tone, said, “Charmed.”

Albus started to ask a question of Jimber, but before he could get more than a few words out, Professor Longbottom cleared his throat. The task set forth for the class was to fill their tray with soil, plant the Merlin Grass seedlings, add Chinese Red Dragon dung and finally water. While the other groups mixed conversation with their work and assigned individuals each a task, the Gryffindor four each took a quadrant of the long tray and did the whole assignment in total silence.

As Professor Longbottom moved through the class inspecting the results of his assignment, Albus turned toward Jimber and in a whisper inquired, “Were you born in England?” Dokes shook his head in the negative. “Where?” Albus prodded.

“The Island,” whispered Jimber.

The answer peaked Albus’ attention and even Rose seemed interested. “Which island?” Albus asked.

“The Island is an island off the coast of Haiti. The Island doesn’t appear on any Muggle map except as reefs and shoals to be avoided. The whole island has even been made invisible to Muggle radar and those satellites which have cameras,” he said.

Scorpius, who had heard the story on the train, watched the two cousins for their reactions. Albus Potter seemed genuinely interested and a little impressed. Rose Weasley was giving Jimber a discerning eye, like she wasn’t quite ready to believe him. Just as Albus was about to ask something more, the teacher showed up. With an appraising eye, a prodding pinky, and a sniff, he checked out the assignment. “Who did this part?” he pointed to the back right quarter. Albus raised hand shot halfway up and a sheepish smile appeared on the young boy’s face. “Way too much dung and water, and these two areas have too little soil and too much water,” he appraised as he pointed to Rose’s and Jimber’s sections of the tray. “The other is just right; tell me, Malfoy, have you done this before?” asked Longbottom, loud enough for the whole class to hear.

“Yes, Professor; my mother grows her own Merlin Grass to blend into potions and tonics. She taught me, and tending to them is one of my household chores,” Scorpius answered. The answer seemed to please his teacher.

A bell sounded from the school, and everyone in the class jumped to get their books. The Hufflepuffs would be joining the Ravenclaws in the Transfiguration classroom. The Gryffindors would be joining the Slytherins in History of Magic.

As Scorpius and Jimber walked through the common room door from their first History class, he heard the whole class gripe about the teacher. Jimber confined to Scorpius that twice during the period, he had almost nodded off. And no one in the class could miss the Kaitlin girl’s snoring after only fifteen minutes. How could someone, even a dead someone, be so boring?

Just as Scorpius and Jimber walked down the stairs from the dormitory into the common room on their way to get lunch, Scorpius noticed a gang of boys taunting Albus Potter. One of the group looked so much like Albus he could have been his brother. The boys were attempting to stuff pillows into Albus’ clothes. A member of the crowd of students who surrounded the scene moved to the side, and Scorpius saw that one the boys taunting Albus was the same boy who had pushed him on the platform yesterday. Scorpius felt heat rise into his face. He moved away from Jimber and strode over to the crowd in time to hear someone say;

“Now when you fall off your broom do try to land on something useless: like your head.” The comment drew laughs from the older boys.

Albus pulled a pillow out of his pants and threw it at the taunter. “Shut up, James,” he yelled with an injured voice. Suddenly, Scorpius felt someone brush past him as he himself was heading into the melee. It was Rose Weasley. Scorpius and Jimber followed the girl into the middle of the crowd. “What is going on here, James?” demanded the lone girl.

“I was just giving my little brother some guidance for his first flying lesson. We can’t have him ruin the family reputation by breaking his neck, can we?” James Potter answered, while looking around at the surrounding circle. The older boys laughed again.

Suddenly, the boy who’d pushed Malfoy recognized him and said, “Well if it isn’t our mis-Sorted Death Eater. Are you bags still packed so you can be moved to Slytherin where Malfoys belong?”

Scorpius stepped up to face the taunting boy. “If anyone in this room is acting like one of them, it’s you and not me.” Scorpius stiffened as he awaited a reprisal. The taller boy moved into Scorpius’ faces using his chest to bump against it. Scorpius did not move. Malfoy felt Jimber step next to him, offering his support.

James Potter broke the tension. “You better get down to lunch quickly so you and your little classmates can get back to the dorms and take their naps.” The older boys guffawed again and headed out of the portrait hole.

“He makes me so mad. Someday…” Albus punched air in front of him.

“He does it because it makes you mad. You’ve got to learn to ignore him,” Rose advised. She turned toward Dokes and Malfoy appraisingly, “Albus and I have to live with James, but why did you intervene?”

Scorpius looked at Rose and shrugged. Jimber looked at the cousins and said, “Our housemates are our family, we were helping a brother.”

Scorpius shrugged again. If that boy had not been there, what would I have done? He didn’t know.

Scorpius saw Rose Weasley pull her lower lip under her upper one and stared at them. She did not say a thing.

During lunch, Albus introduced his two new friends to what seemed to be easily a half dozen Weasley cousins. Scorpius marveled at how they could keep each other straight. He knew he couldn’t.

Neville added a scoop of the Brussels sprouts casserole onto his plate. Hannah gave her husband a “the vegetable won’t kill you” look. He responded back to her with a smile as an acknowledgement of her culinary prowess and added a second scoop. Hannah had sent him an owl with the good news that Draco and Astoria Malfoy did sign the contract, and all of Diagon Alley was finally occupied. The time, effort, and money they had spent to give the alley its first upgrade in half a century had finally paid off.

Neville’s recommended location for their cozy picnic near the Quidditch pitch had not been without an ulterior motive. During the student’s lunch period, Kaitlin Jones had complained that Thad Vance, the Quidditch captain, had announced the house team without even holding open tryouts. After Jones had left the staff table, Neville had called Vance over, but could not convince the stubborn boy to hold tryouts. Vance was the Captain and had the right to name his team. However, Neville felt not having tryouts was very un-Gryffindor-like.

As he chewed on a roasted chicken leg, Neville watched as his first years �“ Kaitlin Jones, Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, Jimber Dokes and Rose Weasley flew like old hands. While Madame Hooch helped the other first years do the simplest maneuvers, Longbottom watched as his five Gryffindors and one of the Slytherins played a robust game of follow the leader around the pitch. As he ate his lunch, a solution to the tryout issue came to him.